It began as a whimsical idea that occurred to Daniel Leigh after an idyllic trip to the United States: Sell his family’s five-bedroom home in England and travel the world with his wife, Lauren Vaknine, and their two children.
So he was surprised when, a few months later, Vaknine and their children, Braxton, 10, and Viva, 7, agreed to go along with the plan.
“We’re not really travelers,” Leigh said. “We’ve always watched others travel.”
When they got back from their trip to America in March, they noticed that others had successfully raffled their homes on the British website Raffall. The online platform raffles everything from cars to homes, including one man who promoted his house to Americans last year as a “safe haven from Trump.” The couple decided to try it too.
The home is located just 20 minutes outside of London in Elstree.
(Lux Visuals Ltd.)
In June, they put their house in Elstree, about 20 minutes from London, up as a sweepstakes prize online and began selling tickets for five British pounds each, or $6.75.
“While someone new makes memories in our home, we get to go and make some of our own,” said Leigh, who has worked in educational recruitment in London for more than 20 years.
Leigh got the idea after reading a New York Times article about Imelda Collins, who raised about $1.4 million last year by raffling her two-bedroom cottage in Ireland. She sold 206,815 tickets at $6.70 each, and in October, Collins sold her cottage to Kathleen Spangler, a 29-year-old U.S. Marine Corps officer from Dayton, Ohio, who had bought three tickets on a whim and promptly forgot about them.
Leigh and Vaknine, both 42, grew up in the same village and went to high school together.
But after their family trip to New Orleans; Asheville, N.C.; and South Carolina spots Charleston, Folly Beach and Lake Keowee, they began to wonder if they wanted to stay in the same town forever. Kayaking and seeing the beauty of the Appalachian Mountains made them rethink their life.
The couple’s open kitchen was renovated in 2021.
(Lux Visuals Ltd.)
The living room.
(Lux Visuals Ltd.)
“Living on a lake was the most peaceful life I’ve ever had,” Leigh said. “It was perfect. In England, the kids spend most of their time indoors because of the weather, and we have to keep them busy with things like trampolines or indoor parks. Every family outing costs about $300. You can’t just go to the lake, the beach or hike in the mountains.”
Leigh said they have worked hard to build the life they thought they wanted, with two kids, their dog and a home. But after achieving professional success, they realized it was not the future they hoped for.
“We keep chasing goals that always seem just out of reach, simply because we feel we have to keep going,” he said. “There’s so much life to live. We’re seeing many of our parents and our friends’ parents pass away, and it makes you realize that life can feel like a conveyor belt. You either live or you just keep moving along.”
For Vaknine, a holistic wellness coach who was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age 2, selling their home and traveling the world carries even deeper meaning.
“I have been on a long journey,” said Vaknine, who has been in remission for the past decade. “From being head-to-toe disabled to being fully able-bodied, you don’t come through that without realizing that there is so much more to life than working, taking the kids to school and making dinner in the same house every day. For me, the extraordinary life isn’t about mansions, yachts or extravagance. It’s about experiencing life fully, finding deep inner joy, and I can’t do that if I stay within the same four walls in the same town I grew up in.”
Her husband added, “She lives a life of gratitude for everything. That’s what this is about: Let’s live life in the moment and do what we can when we are fully able.”
Their five-bedroom home, which is estimated at about $2 million, is on a quiet cul-de-sac with just five other houses in Hertfordshire, England. It has 2,226 square feet of living space, a south-facing garden, an open-plan kitchen, a dining and living room renovated in 2021, plus a home office and gym.
Leigh said they are not trying to make a profit, but they need to sell 550,000 tickets to cover the property’s costs, legal fees, taxes, prize money and raffle expenses.
“The ticket target has been set to cover all of the associated costs, so it’s unlikely there will be much left over,” he said. “If ticket sales exceed the target, then certainly, but that’s not the goal.”
If they don’t reach the ticket target, a winner will still be chosen and will get 50% of the money raised. They hope the winner gets the house.
One of the home’s bathrooms.
(Lux Visuals Ltd.)
One of the five bedrooms in the couple’s home.
(Lux Visuals Ltd.)
One reason homes aren’t auctioned often on the site, he said, is that you have to promote them yourself. Leigh estimates they’ve spent about $17,000 so far and are about to spend another $15,000 on Meta advertising. They also have to pay for their own legal advice.
The raffle has become a family project, and their children have helped with promotion. In one video, Braxton asks what might be the most important question about their move: “Are we bringing the dog?”
“We may have to leave him with family for a while,” Leigh said of their dog Story. “He’s the size of a small pony, so traveling with him could be a challenge. He’d definitely be missed, though.”
Working together to promote their home has been a valuable lesson for their children, Leigh said, showing them “that if you put your mind to something, you can do it. I want them to see hard work. It’s not just fun to do videos. It’s staying up till midnight, getting up early, running two jobs and making sure you don’t miss an interview. And in the end, the kids will see that life can change, and there’s a world out there if you make it happen.”
The family recently spent time in North Carolina, South Carolina and Louisiana. “We’re huge fans of America,” Leigh said. The couple hope to visit all 50 states after their home is raffled on Dec. 7.
(Daniel Leigh)
The kids aren’t worried about losing their home, Leigh said. “They are excited about going on a holiday, which we hope will include Australia, India and every state in America.”
With a record number of Americans applying for British citizenship, the couple’s raffle may be well-timed. The winner, chosen randomly by Raffall on Dec. 7, will get a mortgage-free home with all legal fees and taxes paid, plus $45,000 for household bills. The property transfer may take up to 60 days or longer according to Raffall’s terms and conditions.
Part of every ticket sale will go to Solace Women’s Aid, a British charity supporting women and children affected by domestic violence. Leigh notes that not every state can take part in Raffall competitions because of different state gambling, lottery and consumer protection laws.
At a time when many people are trying to choose between traveling or saving for a house, the couple is offering raffle entrants a chance to do both.
That’s the point, Leigh said: “If not now, when? That question changed everything.”
